Spaniard cruises into semis

News Article

By
Nick Fishpool

Photo: Roberto PerezJordi Samper-Montana (ESP)

EL PRAT DE LLOBREGAT, SPAIN: 18-year-old Goncalo Oliveira, a Portuguese qualifier, saw his great run at this tournament brutally ended by the top seed from Spain, Jordi Samper-Montana, with a crushing 60 60 quarterfinal defeat.

Oliveira, who had knocked-out the seventh seeded Frenchman Maxime Chazal 64 76(5) in the previous round to reach his second career quarterfinal , was on the receiving end of Samper-Montana’s tenth (fourth in a main draw) ‘double-bagel’ win on the ITF Pro Circuit.

Oliveira wasn’t the only player to lose a set to love in the quarterfinals. French sixth seed Tak Khunn Wang lost the first set of his match by this score but recovered to take the next two, winning 13 of the 19 games played.

These two seeds are joined in the semifinal by Lamine Ouahab. The 28-year-old third seed from Algeria is aiming for a 21st career singles title on the ITF Pro Circuit and will be facing Samper-Montana in a repeat of last week’s semifinal at this same venue. The Spaniard won that encounter in three sets before going on to lose in the final and a title win here will be his seventh of 2013.

Completing the semifinal line-up is the unseeded Australian player, Jason Kubler. Kubler has been in fine form this week having already seen off the eighth and second seeded players and is the only semifinalist yet to drop a set.

Wang vs Kubler will be the first semifinal match of the day tomorrow (Friday) and will be followed by the Samper-Montana vs Ouahab rematch.

Friday’s action will also feature the doubles final which is to be contested by two pairs yet to lose a set; so something has to give. Second seeds David Perez Sanz of Spain and Ramkumar Ramanathan of India will take on the fourth seeded Italian pairing of Antonio Campo and Omar Giacalone.

Perez Sanz and Ramanathan already have a title to their name having won in Spain earlier this month but for the Italians, this represents a first final appearance together.